Mentawai Surf Trip … what and how many surfboards should I take?
We get asked this question about Mentawai Surf Trip in the TPW office quite a bit and we thought who better to give you the answer than Toasty, The Perfect Waves resident surf guide at the Aloita Resort & Spa in the Mentawai.
So over to you mate, can you give us the low down on your boards and what you would suggest as the perfect travelling quiver and would you suggest travelling with two boards?
“Righto! I’ve dragged out a few pics from our photog here at Aloita for you…
My boards are custom shaped by Mitchel Beck – Itchy Shapes. His a local lad and a mate of mine from where I grew up surfing at Long Reef Beach on Sydney’s northern beaches and knows what I need from a shaper and surfers point of view to get the best board for particular waves under my smelly feet.
My Itchy Shape boards are :
5’8 x 18 &1/4 x 2 &1/4 pin tail thruster – 2 to 5ft waves
6’1 x 18 & 1/4 x 2 & 1/4 pin tail thruster – 5 to 6ft waves
6’6 x 19 & 1/4 x 2 & 1/4 pin tail thruster – 6ft+ waves
7’0 pin tail gun with secret dimensions – scary waves
Perfect two board quiver: realistically you should bring 3 boards to the ments.
Bring your favourite short board for the easy fun days under 5ft. Then bring a board 2 inches longer than your short board for the medium days with a good strong glass job.
Lastly, if you can get your hands on a board anything around the 7ft mark depending on your height and weight with a bit more foam in it to get you over the line on the bigger days and it also makes paddling into these big beasts a lot easier!
I personally travel with my 3 favourite boards on quick two week trips . 2 short boards and one big boy, I’d take more but the airlines peg you down to 30kgs baggage allowance, so once your clothes go in for board padding in the board bag, you’re just about on the limit.
My favourite board is my old sunburnt brown 5’8 itchy shapes pin tail. I haven’t changed the wax in 4 years; she’s been around the globe a fair few times, has nice deep foot wells in the deck and has never let me down. It’s not so much about how a board looks and fancy paint jobs, it’s all about how it performs under your feet!
So if you find yourself looking for epic warm water waves come to the Aloita resort in the Mentawai Islands and let’s share a few and have a cold beer after!”
Cheers Toasty!
If you have any questions and would like to find out more about the Mentawai & the Aloita resort visit these links or our www.perfectwavetravel.com
By Scott Robbins & Toasty